Golf Thread

[SKILL]

In other news I came here to ask if I was being an idiot basically

I've been thinking about getting a new set of irons for a bit now and with a tax refund coming 'soon' it seems like now is a great time to buy

Currently have Wilson Dynapowers, the OG set from 2023, I bought them back on 23rd June 2023 when I was a 41.6 handicap. Standard everything basically, length, lie, stock regular shafts etc. At the time my 7 Iron clubhead speed was maybe 70-72.

Now I'm an 18.7 handicap, 7 Iron clubhead speed in the 83-85 region and just generally a much better ball striker

I love the look of blades, that tiny thin top line, short/small face, just so much nicer than the chonky Dynapowers. But obviously blades (and having tried that Mizuno Pro 241 I picked up a bit ago) are not a great idea, but I would like something that's 'aspirational', as in a bit beyond my current abilities so I can improve and move into it if that makes sense?

So, right now if I had to pick (I've not tried any of these but I do overthink things) I'd go for a combo-set of Srixon irons, ZXi-5's in the 5 and 6 Irons (5 iron loft being basically the same as the Dynapower 6 Iron, 0.25" longer shaft) and then ZXi-7's in the 7, 8 & 9 iron before going, maybe controversially, to a specific wedge (e.g. SM10, Opus, MG4 type thing) for 46/PW, 50, 54/56 and 58/60 to fill out the bag.

I feel like this is a combination of some forgiveness with the ZXi-5's in the long irons, but also that step forward with the 7's and non-set wedges. With the wedges part of my thinking is that I feel like I can hit a 46-degree 'proper' wedge as I currently have a 48-degree Mizuno T-24 as my 'gap wedge' because the Dynapower PW is 42 degrees and the proper wedges are basically blades

So am I crazy? Obviously before buying I'll try out a bunch of different options and then get a fitting, thinking maybe even if I decide on say Srixon going to one of their fitting centres (The Hertsmere would be closest for Srixon) to get a fitting there, bit more expensive but 'better' maybe?

 

[-westy-]

Definitely worth trying a few - a popular choice are the Taylormade P790s, the Srixons like you say as well. Worth going to a "neutral" fitting centre. I've found that irons are so subjective, it's really personal preference. I bought P770s blind, sometimes I wish I'd gone for the 790s for a little more forgiveness!

 

[SKILL]

Definitely worth trying a few - a popular choice are the Taylormade P790s, the Srixons like you say as well. Worth going to a "neutral" fitting centre. I've found that irons are so subjective, it's really personal preference. I bought P770s blind, sometimes I wish I'd gone for the 790s for a little more forgiveness!

Yeah, for sure, I plan to go to my local shop where I have a good relationship (and will almost certainly buy the irons from in the end). When I was looking at Drivers earlier in the year I booked the sim for an hour a couple of times and asked for a couple of drivers built up to test, planning similar with the Irons and would want to try a bunch as well as just window shopping at the looks side of things. Then when it actually came time to buy I booked an actual fitting but had narrowed it down by then myself.

So: TM 770/790's, Titleist T100/150/200's (I know they've got new versions out in a few months), Mizuno JPX 925 Pro/S3/243 or whatever, probably the Callaway ones which I guess would be Apex something in that bracket.

 

[stephenb]

As above 18 Birdies is pretty decent, I use it occasionally and other than the pop ads trying to get you to pay the basic/free functionality is good. I *think* it can also hook up/work on the Galaxy Watch stuff too...

It can indeed, use it with my Pixel 4a and Galaxy Watch 5.

 

[iGiDK]

@SKILL combo set is a good shout just watch out for gapping between that 6 iron and 7 iron at the point where they transition e.g. you don't want your 6 iron carrying 180 yards and your 7 iron carrying 150 yards.

I mulled over srixon combo sets previously and just stuck with z5 series throughout for this very reason

I guess for irons prioritise what you want even if you regard them as "growing into them" i.e. do you need more distance, height, spin, workability, feel (soft forged), forgiveness and let an unbiased fitter do their thing.

Oh and this is probably also the ideal time to get fit as opposed to winter/spring when it's so cold!

 

[stephenb]

Are you sure? I'm not massively up to date on the whole advice vs information rule from memory but a distance would be information and not advice so I think that would be fine. I'm going to research for my own benefit to be 100%.

I stand corrected. Was sure I'd read this in the R&A rules app I have on my phone but evidently not. Here's what it says on their website regarding advice (https://www.randa.org/rog/definitions):

Any verbal comment or action (such as showing what club was just used to make a stroke) that is intended to influence a player in:
Choosing a club,
Making a stroke, or
Deciding how to play during a hole or round.
But advice does not include public information, such as:
The location of things on the course such as the hole, the putting green, the fairway, penalty areas, bunkers, or another player’s ball,
The distance from one point to another,
Wind direction, or
The Rules.

Looking at sub section three however (https://www.randa.org/rog/definitions-clarifications#rog/interpretations/advice-3) I'd make sure to keep it purely factual and not say that while yardage measure X it's actually playing more like Y because of wind/temperature etc. as this could fall under statements of public information that include advice and therefore be prohibited.

 

[booyaka]

Yeah, for sure, I plan to go to my local shop where I have a good relationship (and will almost certainly buy the irons from in the end). When I was looking at Drivers earlier in the year I booked the sim for an hour a couple of times and asked for a couple of drivers built up to test, planning similar with the Irons and would want to try a bunch as well as just window shopping at the looks side of things. Then when it actually came time to buy I booked an actual fitting but had narrowed it down by then myself.

So: TM 770/790's, Titleist T100/150/200's (I know they've got new versions out in a few months), Mizuno JPX 925 Pro/S3/243 or whatever, probably the Callaway ones which I guess would be Apex something in that bracket.

This is only my opinion - so do what you want with it!

What's wrong with your current set other than "they don't look like a blade"

If they've taken you from 40 to 18 handicap - I'd say they are suiting your game very well at the moment. Why the rush to change them.

However if you must buy new shiny stuff then my list would be as follows:

I would not go P790 - they are still very "game improvement" and for me very clicky/springy face... P770's are very nice to look at and certainly would consider them.

Mizuno JPX925 Forged (I have 921 forged) - would be very high on my list if I didn't already use Mizuno's - S3 are NOT something you want to entertain unless you are a very very good ball striker.... See Matt Fryers video here where he basically admits he should NEVER have gone for the s3's -

243's - nice but again - need to be a very decent ball striker with these - not the most forgiving but hit well - they are beautiful things. Once you hit / play with Mizuno you'll struggle to ever leave their irons....

Titleist Range - lovely to hit - great to combo up and very nice to look at. Would certainly be high on my list if renewing irons.

Callaway - Just a personal thing - don't work for me - Don't particularly like the look/brand - just something I've never clicked with.

Stick with PW in the set and then go 50 (GW), 54 & 58 or something like that in SM10's or alike.

Also, find one ball make and stick with it - best thing you will do long term.

 

[SKILL]

@SKILL combo set is a good shout just watch out for gapping between that 6 iron and 7 iron at the point where they transition e.g. you don't want your 6 iron carrying 180 yards and your 7 iron carrying 150 yards.

I mulled over srixon combo sets previously and just stuck with z5 series throughout for this very reason

I guess for irons prioritise what you want even if you regard them as "growing into them" i.e. do you need more distance, height, spin, workability, feel (soft forged), forgiveness and let an unbiased fitter do their thing.

Oh and this is probably also the ideal time to get fit as opposed to winter/spring when it's so cold!

Makes sense, the Srixon sets only have 1 degree of loft difference between the 5's and 7's in 6-8 irons so should be close-ish, but then you'd expect the ZXi-5's to be 'hotter' if anything so might be more. Definitely something I'd want to look into and actually a good part of why I'd want to go to a manufacturer-specific fitting once I'm sure of the brand I want. My local certainly only has 7 Irons to test really and I'd want to see where the crossover should be etc.

Biggest thing right now seems to be height/spin, until the recent rain my local course especially but also others nearby had got very dry to the extent the greens were damn near impossible, I know my irons don't really launch or spin particularly high (often see as low as 4k rpm spin on the PW) so looking for that really. Add in some nice looks, better feel and maybe some workability it'll all be nice. Honestly I don't see anything (other than 'super game improvement') being as forgiving as the Dynapowers, they area remarkably good irons in that respect.

This is only my opinion - so do what you want with it!

What's wrong with your current set other than "they don't look like a blade"

If they've taken you from 40 to 18 handicap - I'd say they are suiting your game very well at the moment. Why the rush to change them.
<snip>

Looks is certainly part of it, I won't lie I never particularly loved the looks of the Dynapowers, in fact at the time I was really tempted by the Srixon ZX-4 MkII's which gave similar numbers, felt a bit better but looked waaaaay better to me. They also cost ~£250 more for the set so I balked and bought the Dynapowers. Semi-interestingly for below I actually hit the JPX925 Hot Metal HL at the same time and didn't fall in love with the feel, saying that the Mizuno Pro 241 blade ex-demo club I picked up is extremely nice when I manage to find somewhere near the middle

But I think there is more than just looks to my decision making, the big thing as above is height/spin and that's to an extent that's starting to cause me 'issues' with my game now. I know some of that will be strike/swing related but also some will be down to what GI clubs are designed to do.

However if you must buy new shiny stuff then my list would be as follows:

I would not go P790 - they are still very "game improvement" and for me very clicky/springy face... P770's are very nice to look at and certainly would consider them.

Mizuno JPX925 Forged (I have 921 forged) - would be very high on my list if I didn't already use Mizuno's - S3 are NOT something you want to entertain unless you are a very very good ball striker.... See Matt Fryers video here where he basically admits he should NEVER have gone for the s3's - <yt vid snipped>

243's - nice but again - need to be a very decent ball striker with these - not the most forgiving but hit well - they are beautiful things. Once you hit / play with Mizuno you'll struggle to ever leave their irons....

Titleist Range - lovely to hit - great to combo up and very nice to look at. Would certainly be high on my list if renewing irons.

Callaway - Just a personal thing - don't work for me - Don't particularly like the look/brand - just something I've never clicked with.

Stick with PW in the set and then go 50 (GW), 54 & 58 or something like that in SM10's or alike.

Also, find one ball make and stick with it - best thing you will do long term.

I think I'd agree with most of that tbh, at least from looking around. The Callaway Apex stuff just doesn't look that appealing, I'll probably give it a go though and see how it feels.

Oddly Titleist I like the look of but also part of me doesn't want be a one-brand-bag kinda guy after getting the GT3

Any particular reason for sticking with the set PW?

I definitely should with the balls, I've currently gone back to the Srixon Divide Q-Star balls (blue and yellow to wind up my playing partners ) but do switch back and forth way too much generally. I stick with a type for a dozen or three depending on the deal I can get at the time but then potentially move onto something else on a whim, more price than performance based.

 

[booyaka]

Any particular reason for sticking with the set PW?

I definitely should with the balls, I've currently gone back to the Srixon Divide Q-Star balls (blue and yellow to wind up my playing partners ) but do switch back and forth way too much generally. I stick with a type for a dozen or three depending on the deal I can get at the time but then potentially move onto something else on a whim, more price than performance based.

no amateur needs 4 "specialist" wedges...Just not required for 99% of the golfers on the planet.

 

[-westy-]

This is only my opinion - so do what you want with it!

What's wrong with your current set other than "they don't look like a blade"

If they've taken you from 40 to 18 handicap - I'd say they are suiting your game very well at the moment. Why the rush to change them.

However if you must buy new shiny stuff then my list would be as follows:

I would not go P790 - they are still very "game improvement" and for me very clicky/springy face... P770's are very nice to look at and certainly would consider them.

Agree with all that's said here, apart from the P790 vs P770. I found the P790s more forgiving (once I'd already bought the P770s, typical!), and for where you're at now, I'd recommend them over the P770s.

But the other question still remains - if you're playing well with your current irons, then why change apart from "I want new irons"? I did that - expect your game to go backwards before it moves forwards again.

 

[SKILL]

no amateur needs 4 "specialist" wedges...Just not required for 99% of the golfers on the planet.

But, shiny?

Agree with all that's said here, apart from the P790 vs P770. I found the P790s more forgiving (once I'd already bought the P770s, typical!), and for where you're at now, I'd recommend them over the P770s.

But the other question still remains - if you're playing well with your current irons, then why change apart from "I want new irons"? I did that - expect your game to go backwards before it moves forwards again.

Partly it's wanting something new and shiny sure, but as mentioned I don't feel like pure game improvement irons give a ball flight in terms of height/descent angle/spin that works when things start drying out and I no longer 'need' that extra distance and/or forgiveness they offer.

Of course realistically something like P790s would probably suit better right now but hey, that's where the shiny comes in

 

[Lonewolf]

Watching clips on social media of players practicing at Oakmont, US Open. The rough around the course is horrendous and will certainly sort the wheat from the chaff. Course will definitely favour those who can keep the ball on the fairway.

 

[booyaka]

Watching clips on social media of players practicing at Oakmont, US Open. The rough around the course is horrendous and will certainly sort the wheat from the chaff. Course will definitely favour those who can keep the ball on the fairway.

Excited to watch them suffer this weekend... Should be carnage

 

[OldKitMan]

Watching clips on social media of players practicing at Oakmont, US Open. The rough around the course is horrendous and will certainly sort the wheat from the chaff. Course will definitely favour those who can keep the ball on the fairway.

Hard golf is good to watch when it's the best players in the world, really shows who has the ability and vision to make the correct shot.

Was similar watching the Womans US Open a couple of weeks back. Some really good golf was played but the course was difficult. Pace of play was absolutely something else though, remember similar at St Andrews last year when it was taking 5+ hours for a round.

 

[stephenb]

Biggest thing right now seems to be height/spin, until the recent rain my local course especially but also others nearby had got very dry to the extent the greens were damn near impossible, I know my irons don't really launch or spin particularly high (often see as low as 4k rpm spin on the PW) so looking for that really. Add in some nice looks, better feel and maybe some workability it'll all be nice. Honestly I don't see anything (other than 'super game improvement') being as forgiving as the Dynapowers, they area remarkably good irons in that respect.

Was that testing with the Q Star Tour ball? Balls (Urethene cover vs Surlyn) can have a big effect on spin. I play the Q Star and on well struck shots don't seem to suffer with lack of spin, get the occasional one even in the current conditions which will come back a touch with my wedges (TaylorMmade MG3 and P790 PW @ 47) and 9i-7i are one hop and stop. Nothing wrong with wanting new stuff mind

Watching clips on social media of players practicing at Oakmont, US Open. The rough around the course is horrendous and will certainly sort the wheat from the chaff. Course will definitely favour those who can keep the ball on the fairway.

I watched the 'major cut' series that Grant Horvat and the Bryan brothers recorded there. Absolutely brutal, finding the fairways is going to be very important!


Had the day off today as my car needed to go into the garage, the perfect opportunity to play some golf. Went over to Hill Barn and would have had a great score were it not for a dreadful display with the putter and the two worst bunker lies I've ever seen Poor three putt on the 1st after hitting GIR, par'd the 2nd, birdied the 3rd and then par'd the 4th to be level. 5th is a very short par 3 that plays steep down hill, didn't hit the best PW and ended up fried egg in the front bunker right up against the lip. Disgusting lie and suffice to say it took me two to get out. Unfortunately left myself back fringe to a front pin. Four strokes with the putter to register a quad! 6th is a par 4 dog leg up the hill, drive didn't quite reach the corner so chipped up and then bladed my pitch to the back edge. Green has a big slope back to front and I hit a dreadful first putt which raced past the hole then left the return well short to end up four putting for a triple. Largely steadied the ship from there minus the one other horrendous bunker lie (ball plugged in a steep face - maybe half of it visible) and my putting, until the 16th where I had an adventure exploring all parts of the course before birdying the last for a +18 gross. Could so easily have been 7-8 shots better. On the plus side my driving, bar a ropey one on the last, was on point and my ball striking much better than it has been recently Hoping this was down to my new pre shot routine/swing which I stumbled upon at the driving range mid week.

Next golf for me will be a club match away at Cams Hall on Sunday in the South Hampshire Golf League, looking forward to playing a new track.

 

[SKILL]

Was at Weston-Super-Mare yesterday, third or fourth time now playing it as part of the Fore Business stuffs. Lovely weather, bit of wind but nothing too bad and course in great condition. Played reasonably well except a few blowups, 91 gross +21, 34 points stableford. Had 2 pickup holes where I sliced it OB off the tee, twice each hole, not great.

Ended with a nice par on the last though, long par 4 but downwind so hit a 265 yard drive followed by a 175 yard 8 Iron to the green and a boring 2-putt, boring golf but felt good as the 17th was one of the pickup holes

Was that testing with the Q Star Tour ball? Balls (Urethene cover vs Surlyn) can have a big effect on spin. I play the Q Star and on well struck shots don't seem to suffer with lack of spin, get the occasional one even in the current conditions which will come back a touch with my wedges (TaylorMmade MG3 and P790 PW @ 47) and 9i-7i are one hop and stop. Nothing wrong with wanting new stuff mind

That was in a Trackman sim with iirc a Callaway Supersoft ball.

It's something I want to double check though, so first step will be to book a sim session and have a play with my current clubs, my 48-degree well-worn T-24 wedge and also probably my ex-demo Mizuno 241 7 Iron, using a variety of balls. Then I can use that as a reference as I try different clubs

 

[Lonewolf]

Bryson will be complaining about Rory’s new driver. Rory has hit a 392 yard tee shot and kept it on the fairway.

 

[booyaka]

Rare bird sighted at Oakmont...

Patrick Reed with a 2 on the par 5

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[JamesH85]

Oakmont is no joke, just look at all them pro's over par!

 

[iGiDK]

Can't say I'm a huge fan of either but I'm actually quite pleased to see Rahm and Koepka up there in early contention could get interesting if they can sustain it through the weekend. Also some great fighting from Spieth too